GOP Congressional Candidate Neal Tapio today announces and reiterates his solidarity with the nation of Israel and culminating actions by the Donald Trump administration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.

Tapio says it is an historic and momentous occasion to acknowledge the historic restoration of Jerusalem as Israel’s political and ancestral capital which comes 70 years after the founding of the Jewish state in 1948.

“We feel it is only timely and important that the people of the United States and of the State of South Dakota show support for this agreement at this historic moment in recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” State Senator Neal Tapio said.

“In his recent words and actions, President Donald Trump showed courageous leadership in reaffirming the strong bond between the United States and the nation of Israel by signaling clearly that Jerusalem is the Israeli capital and that Israel alone has every right both to self determination and self preservation in that decision,” Tapio said.

Moves this week to begin relocating the Jewish seat of power to Jerusalem and the shifting of the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem touched off riots in Muslim countries around the world and especially in Iran and in Beirut, Lebanon, where protests took on an air of tribalist violence, burning of the American flag and chants of “Death to Israel, Death to America.”

Tapio says the response of Islamic jihadists to America’s support for the state of Israel underscores the intolerance of that belief system toward Jews and Christians worldwide and reinforces the need for unified defense of freedom of religion in the peaceful western nations where multiculturalism has resulted in a massive wave of Islamic violence and sexual assault.

“Regardless of Islamic backlash, Israel is and will remain the Holy Land of the Judeo-Christian belief system and the spiritual ideal that remains the basis for the freedoms and liberties we enjoy in the United States,” Tapio said.

“It is vital that the American people and the people of South Dakota continue to recognize and understand the importance and value of our strong affiliation and friendship with the lone democracy in the Middle East and more importantly, the historic place where the values of our Christian faith became relevant, historic fact before the entire world,” Tapio said.